The awards will be presented by Irina Mashinski, the StoSvet Project director and co-editor of the Cardinal Points Journal; Sibelan Forrester and Alexander Veytsman, judges; and Regina Khidekel, the director of the Russian-American Cultural Center.

Lynn Emanuel is Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh. Her books of poetry include Noose and Hook (2010), Then, Suddenly— (1999), and The Dig (1992), which was a winner of the National Poetry Series. Her awards include two Pushcart Prizes and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.